Saren's Effect
by theorangeguy
Summary: Saren and Shepard are two sides to the same coin. One was a vanguard of destruction, the other a savior of the galaxy. Both are heroes, in their own way. An AU fic if Shepard had met Sovereign first, and Saren is the only hope for the rest of the Galaxy. Pairings later on, Rated T for mild sexual references, violence, some swearing.
1. Revelations

**A/N: So this is my first fanfic. I'm a huge sucker for alternate realities, and thought I could apply it to one of my favorite universes of all time, Mass  
Effect.**

**Saren, to me, seemed to be one of the most underdeveloped characters in the series. He was the main villain for one game, then died. We never really got to understand his drive, his motivation, or his true feelings. This is Saren's Effect on the galaxy. And it's a big one.**

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Chapter 1: Revelations

Loud, metallic steps echoed down the hallway. A turian strode forward with an almost arrogant air about him. His head was held high, and his mandibles bristled with tension. Though he had gone over his plan many times in his head, the execution needed to be perfect. He had never tried to deceive the Council before.

Sparatus would be behind him no matter what; the naïve and bigoted turian Councilor would believe anything coming from the mouth of one of his own. Tevos would be somewhat easy to convince. As long as he presented his facts calmly and logically, he would be fine with her. Valern, however, was another matter. He knew that the salarian councilor had spent time in STG, despite his age. Manipulating a former intelligence officer would be a challenge, to say the least. The salarian had never really approved of his methods, but would not speak out unless he had the support of the other two.

But how to handle the human ambassador? Saren knew little about how the new species handled themselves in politics. The turian braced himself to expect the unexpected.

However, his time with the human soldier had given him a little insight. To him, humans seemed very similar to turians in terms of their psych. Stubborn, and demanding. A bit more flexible, not as 'by the book' as most turians. They were upstarts, always wanting more. It was as if they thought that they were protheans themselves, with how they expected to be received by the galactic community. But handling them as if they were turians would be a mistake he couldn't afford to make. He had to succeed, if the magnitude of his discovery was as massive as the doctor had made it sound.

The doors opened, leading into a majestic platform in the heart of the Presidium. The citadel council stood at the far end, waiting patiently while he entered the scene. Two humans, a male and a female, stood on a lower platform. The latter, dressed in the smart, professional look of a politician, looked as if she had just finished speaking and was gripping the handlebar with white knuckles.

The former was dressed in clean cut military attire, but his face was covered in scratches and his leg gave away a slight limp, most likely from his encounter with the krogan. He stood at attention, and turned to note the turian's entrance with a nod. The turian ignored him, keeping his eyes focused on the councilors.

"Ah, Saren. It seems your arrival is most timely. The human ambassador and Lieutenant Anderson have just finished giving their report," the turian ambassador said warmly.

"However, as a member of the office of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance and the Council's liaison on this mission regarding an artifact that pre dates known Prothean activity, we would like your report on the mission and the performance of Lieutenant David Anderson on the mission in relevance to his candidacy as a Spectre." The salarian councilor spoke quickly.

He's staying neutral, for now. Sticking to the script, Saren thought. The asari councilor, Tevos, remained quiet, in anticipation of Saren's report.

The turian cleared his throat. "Our mission objective was to recover the data about the artifact by the human Dr. Shu Qian. Though the safety of Dr. Sanders was a concern, the main priority was the data," Saren said. Stay calm, he thought to himself.

"However, the lieutenant seemed to dismiss this notion, deeming the life of his comrade more important than millennium old data that could possibly explain everything we know about protheans, and more."

The reaction was instant. Anderson scowled, and the human ambassador, Goyle, fumed up instantly.

"Councilmen, please! This turian," The word was riddle with animosity. "has been nothing but racist and antagonistic towards humans-"

Sparatus cut her off. "How dare you try to blackwash the word of a renowned Council Spectre! Saren has proven time and again to be a dedicated agent of the Council, and an enforcer of the galactic law!"

Saren smiled smugly to himself. The council was being so predictable, it was almost laughable.

"In any event, we ask that Saren at least be allowed to present his full report before accusations are thrown," Tevos said.

Asari. Always trying to play peacekeeper.

He glanced sideways at Anderson. The human was staring at him with a frown, obviously enraged at the fact that Saren was screwing him over. However, the human soldier was smart enough to keep his emotions in check.

Maybe this wasn't such a good-no, no. The data was too important. Cool, calm professionalism. He had done this dozens of times before. Never falsely, but still. Why was this so hard? He tried to remember a drell meditation technique he had learned on Kahje. He breathed in, and recalled the story he had created.

"While the Lieutenant was playing the hero, I went after the batarian, Had'dah, and the doctor. I killed the batarian, but I couldn't get to the data cache in time. The doctor committed suicide and the cache was destroyed after the complex exploded." Saren faked a grimace. "The spirits dammed paranoid terrorist rigged a bomb to his Omni-tool; if his vitals dropped, the complex was set to detonate. We just barely got out in time, without the Intel."

At this, Anderson scowled, and tensed up. The human politician, Goyle, sighed. Tevos looked sideways at her companions. The salarian locked eyes with her, then spoke.

"Though we can see that all efforts to succeed did not work as planned, the council does commemorate the Lieutenant for his bravery in the pursuit of the conservation of life, a quality we hope can reflect upon the entirety of humanity."

Valern glanced at the turian councilor. Sparatus had been smug during Saren's exposition, and, with the green light from both Tevos and Valern, issued the final verdict almost gleefully:

"However, in light of the clear insubordination from a superior officer and deference from the primary objective, this council deems that Lieutenant David Anderson is ineligible from Spectre Candidacy"

Several obscenities poured out of Goyle's mouth that even impressed Saren, who knew several krogan who would simply blush at the ruckus she made. Anderson just looked shocked. The marine knew Saren was lying, but he had the common sense to keep his mouth shut. No one would believe him, anyway.

In the middle of Goyle insinuating that Sparatus' father had committed adultery with a mentally handicapped hanar in a very specific part of the body, Tevos interrupted.

"Ambassador Goyle, please restrain yourself!" Goyle shut her mouth, but glared at Saren with extreme distrust. Tevos continued.

"The council's word is final. However, if the Human Embassy can come forth with another possible Spectre candidate in the future, this decision will not bias the council against that person." Goyle made as if to speak, but Sparatus cut her off.

"You and the Lieutenant are excused, Ambassador Goyle."

Saren didn't meet Anderson's gaze when he passed.

The second the two had left the council room, Valern pressed Saren for details. "Are you sure the data was destroyed? Did you procure any of it before the explosion?" The salarian's eyes locked with Saren's. The turian stared right back.

Saren raced down the hall. Several guards already lay dead, and sirens were blaring. The bug he planted on Anderson allowed him to hear the fight between him and the krogan. Saren had to admit, what the marine lacked in tact, he made up for it guts. His decision to go after Sanders was too good to be true. With a quick glance at his Omni-tool, he confirmed that the room ahead of him was where he wanted to be.

The green light flashed and the door slid open, revealing a heavily armored batarian and a smaller human scientist at a terminal. Almost immediately, the batarian roared, and a shotgun blast resonated against Saren's shields, staggering him. The scientist lunged to the side as Saren rolled over behind a nearby desk. The batarian bellowed, "Damn turian! I'll blow your fucking brains out!"

Another shot punctured a whole in the table. Saren breathed in. The batarian was getting closer, trying to flank him on the left.

As Had'dah rounded the corner, Saren pushed with all his strength and flipped the desk over onto the batarian. A cry of pain signaled his success, and he stood up abruptly, aiming his pistol. Unfortunately for him, the Had'dah was tougher than he looked. Though Saren had succeeded in disarming him, the batarian still charged headfirst and caught Saren in the gut, ramming him against the wall. Saren's pistol was knocked out of his hand.

Crazy bastard thinks he can match me hand to hand? We'll se about that.

Batarians were known for brute strength, but, even though they weren't as agile as, say, the asari, turians were more flexible and versatile in close quarters.

The charge had knocked the wind out of him, but his armor had stopped the razors protruding from the batarian's arms and shoulders. Had'dah threw a fist aimed for Saren's head, but the turian twitched his head to the side and maneuvered so that he was to the batarians left, outside the extended arm.

Two quick blows to the ribcage stunned him, and another blow to the extended elbow shattered Had'ahs left arm. While he cried out in pain, Saren grabbed him head and slammed it against the wall. The impact left a dent on the wall, and a nice scratch above the batarians upper right eye. Saren moved efficiently, dodging another blind haymaker from the Had'dah. Without wasting time, he pulled out a short, serrated hunting knife and pinned the batarians good hand to the wall. The batarian was swearing to every god he knew at this point, but Saren paid him no mind. He strode briskly over to where his foe had dropped the shotgun, and picked it up, examining it.

"You know, Had'dah, if I wasn't here to kill you, I'd have to arrest you for possession of this gun." Saren spoke with unnerving calm, though the batarian was writhing in pain trapped against the wall. "Even in the Terminus, these mods are frowned upon. Want to know why?"

"Go fuck yourself!" Had'dah spat.

Saren's mandibles twitched. "Wrong answer."

He pulled the trigger, and Had'dah's torso exploded into thousands of tiny fragments of flesh. The batarian never even had time to scream.

Saren went to detach his knife from the disembodied arm, and sheathed it, along with his fallen pistol. He glanced around at the rest of the room, and noticed the terminal that Dr. Qian had been working at. It was still open, and operational. Excellent.

Before he could access the terminal, he heard a scuffle behind him, and pivoted, only to come face to face with the barrel of a pistol, in the arm of Dr. Qian.

Saren had been at gunpoint before. It usually ended badly for the person holding the gun. Bu this time, he hesitated. Something had caught him completely off guard.

He prided himself on being an observant person. His instructors chastised him for focusing on the details of a situation in training, but, in his experience, the smallest details were usually the most important. Saren had looked over the doctor's dossier on the trip to Camala. In the doctors profile picture, his eyes were dark brown, a typical color for humans, he figured.

As Saren stared into the Qian's eyes, hard, metallic blue irises stared back. They shared a cold, threatening, almost…_evil _gaze. Saren had never shivered with fear before. He didn't like the feeling.

He forced himself to snap out of it. As Qian's finger twitched on the trigger, Saren lashed out, directing the gun upward. The bullet bounced off the ceiling and Saren delivered a quick blow to break Qian's neck. The doctor's inhuman eyes rolled back into his skull, and he collapsed. Saren released a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

Get a hold of yourself, Arterius. Saren moved toward the terminal, confident at last that he was alone.

What he saw changed his life forever. The Doctor had uncovered an artifact that pre-dated the protheans. It was technology the doctor had theorized came from machines that had supposedly wiped out the protheans fifty thousand years ago. The name Qian had given the machines stemmed from his fear of them, but held no meaning for Saren. Nevertheless, it stuck in his head like glue: Reapers

These 'Reapers' seemed to be incredibly powerful, and numerous. Qian's notes also mentioned a 'cycle', that the Reapers were supposed to return very soon. The latter half of his notes tuned more and more into gibberish. More like praise for the Reapers, instead of fear. To Saren, it seemed like the artifact was doing something to the man's mind. Perhaps that was why his eyes had changed color. Maybe this brainwashing, this 'indoctrination', affected physical appearance as well as mental functionality.

Saren gave a quick prayer of thanks for his soldier mentality. If he had brooded on this topic for much longer, he was quite sure he would go insane with fear. Fortunately, years of training had helped him focus. He quickly saved a copy of the research onto his Omni-tool, and, with a second thought, placed an explosive on the bottom of the terminal. The surge from the bomb would carry through the wires, and hopefully destroy the half the factory. He glanced around the room one last time, and left.

"I did not save any of the information. There simply wasn't enough time."

Saren spoke with a level voice. Valern didn't look away. Sparatus looked unconcerned. He had never really appreciated the prothean mystery, anyway.

Tevos sighed. "Such a shame. I know a young archaeologist who would have loved to get her hands on the data. In any event, we thank you for your assistance, Saren. You are dismissed."

Valern's eyes never left the back of Saren's head as the Spectre exited the room. They also didn't fail to notice the turians tense body relax with relief as the door closed behind him.

Later, in his apartment on the citadel, Saren committed the information he had taken to memory, and then wiped the Omni-tools databanks. He was right not to reveal this information to the council. In hindsight, he had wished he hadn't killed the doctor. He could have been the proof he needed. No one would believe him. Data from a scientist the human woman had already claimed was half crazy? Even if it wasn't about these Reapers, many would be skeptical of Qian's claims. He had committed himself to hiding it, now. The council would be furious that he withheld information. Going to them now would be a waste. Even Sparatus would laugh him out of a job.

The tone on his door rang. Saren stood up abruptly. "Come in,"

He tensed up when Councilor Valern walked in. Then he berated himself for tensing up, and tried to act natural.

"Councilor, what a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Saren tried to be polite as possible.

"You may cease the façade, Agent Saren." Valern spoke bluntly. "You may have the others convinced that the data from Dr. Qian was lost, but they aren't me."

Saren was silent, working hard not to betray his emotions. Slippery bastard. Once a spy, always a spy.

"It's obvious you don't feel like talking, so I will," Valern stood closer to Saren. The councilor was not as tall as him, and Saren held his ground, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge such a challenge. "I would very much like to know what it is about that information you value such that you would keep I secret from the council. I hope you know that despite your Spectre status, I still have friends who would all too willingly pry that information from your cold, dead body if I so desired."

Saren's mandibles bristled, but Valern continued undaunted.

"Fortunately for you, I am not so inclined. You are an excellent agent, Saren. You have never failed over the course of your Spectre career, so I trust your judgement on this matter."

Valern turned to leave. As he passed through the door, he said, "I just hope it is worth denying a good man the chance of a lifetime. Good day."

Saren watched the Councilor leave.

Spirits, Valern. If only you knew.

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**A/N: If you've never read Mass Effect: Revelation, I recommend it highly. It's an excellent prequel to the games. If you have, please forgive me for taking some...creative liberties with the actual events. This is an AU, after all.**

**New updates soon! Please favorite and review, it helps like nothing else!**


	2. The Fall

**A/N- Well, thank you for continuing to read. Hopefully this chapter will pique your curiosity, and convince you to put up with my weird schedule enough to review!**

**And thanks to those who already have! You have no idea how much positive reinforcement helps.**

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Lieutenant Olivia Shepard was many things. She was a soldier. And, as many of her CO's had said when her liberal interpretation of protocol had annoyed some higher ups, a damn good one, too.

She was a biotic. The best military L3 implants the Alliance had to offer. She didn't have the strength or focus of an asari, but she could still kick ass when needed. N7 training had only made her stronger. Alliance brass considered her one of the best human biotics of her day.

She was a hero. The entire colony of Elysium could testify on that. During the Skyllian Blitz, batarian raiders had attacked the planet. Unfortunately for Olivia, these guys weren't from Oakland back on Earth. On top of that, she had been on a damn vacation with her mother. Captain Hannah Shepard had joined the fleets in the sky while Olivia led the grunts on the surface. When the batarians hijacked the colony defense towers and began firing upon Alliance ships, she and a small band of marines broke in, captured it, and protected it and the colonists from further attacks. In less than a few years, she had gone from a typical grunt, to poster girl for the Alliance military.

But in her heart, she was just an adventurer. When her dad died, her mother took on the responsibility of raising the energetic young girl from toddler to teenager, in addition to her military duties. Olivia grew up on ships. She loved flying through space, and seeing new planets. She loved her mother, who always found time to read to her or play with her and teach her despite her busy schedule. She became a marine to help people and see the galaxy. And she loved every minute of it.

* * *

But out of all those things, Shepard was not a doctor.

"Sonuvvabitch!"

Private Jeremy Hicks swore violently as Olivia applied medigel to his leg. The skin had been burnt away, leaving twisted bone marrow exposed to the air. The other leg wasn't much better off- Olivia had done her best to create a splint for the fractured femur, but military field medicine didn't exactly give a step by step method for fixing body parts smashed by falling buildings.

'Fuckin'…shit…shit, shit!" Tears covered his dirty face.

"Hang in there, Hicks," she panted. The young man was past the breaking point and writhing in agony. Medigel was good, but it wasn't a painkiller. As her omni-tool supplied the bandage, her other arm was trying to keep his foot from nailing her in the face. "Just hang in there," panicked, short breath punctuated her every word. "I'm gonna get you out of this, big guy, just hang in there…"

Hours ago, the 63rd Scout Flotilla had intercepted a distress call from an Alliance colony, Akuze. They claimed to be under attack by an unknown force. They were the only force in the system-the closest fleet, the 9th, was over twelve hours away even at FTL. Despite their better judgment, the commanders refused to let a whole colony be wiped out or let this unknown assailant go unanswered. Flash forward three hours and the entire damn flotilla had gone to hell.

Preemptive scans had shown as massive object-almost three times the size of a turian dreadnought- on the surface of Akuze. Shepard led a ground team to get the civilians to safety, while the small band of frigates would draw the enemy's fire.

The…thing…whatever it was, was so much more than simple scans could show. Half the shuttles were obliterated by the thing before they could touch ground. Its massive cannon wielded firepower to put the Destiny Ascension to shame. The flotilla, despite their best efforts, was also overwhelmed. Nothing could have outrun the red beam of death. They were crushed like flies. Olivia was dumbstruck at the devastation the thing could render. The whole colony was FUBAR- she and her crew found less than thirty survivors in the labyrinth of fallen buildings and flaming debris.

In the midst of all the confusion, they were spotted by the enemy. A single blast of red molten death exploded around them. The lucky ones died instantly. Shepard managed to get out of its way, but Hicks wasn't as lucky. Both of his legs had been caught under a fallen durasteel wall. Shepard heard his cries, and was able to drag him out and into a standing apartment.

Hicks lay against the wall of the apartment. His left leg was held stiff by the makeshift brace that was the only thing keeping his bones from falling to pieces. His right leg was a bloody mess of flesh and medigel. On his right shoulder, the armour had been smashed in, crushing the delicate bone and muscle beneath. Shepard couldn't remove it without taking the rest of the arm with it, so it stayed on. Hick's breath came in ragged gasps. His once handsome face was clouded with blood and filth and tears. Shepard stayed by his side. She suffered only a few minor hits, but a large gash on her forehead resonated with a pulse pounding headache. Sweat dripped from her bangs, and her ponytail was a mess of filth and auburn hair. She did what she could for her partner's wounds, and tried to keep him calm. He's a good kid, she thought. He doesn't deserve this.

"Shepard…" Hicks coughed.

"Yeah, bud? I'm here,"

"I…I ain't gonna…," he breathed in.

"Bullshit, Hicks. You're gonna be alright." She spoke quickly, and as soft as she could. The best thing for him right now was to stay calm.

He shook his head. "Bullshit…on you, LT…and you…know it. I'm down and out…ma'am." He coughed again. Blood dripped onto his chestplate. Shepard grabbed onto his good shoulder, and looked him in the eye.

"You hang in there, Hicks. That's a damn order,"

Hicks chuckled up more blood. His face had aged a lifetime in the last hour. "Can't pull… rank on a…dead man," spasms of coughing racked his body.

Shepard held him tight, her own mask of confidence fading. "Hicks! Come on, trooper, stay with me! You're gonna make it!" Her voice was hollow. Fear gripped her like iron. Dirty red clumps of hair hung over her eyes.

"I'm gonna die, lieutenant." His words hung in the air. Shepard swallowed, her saliva like sandpaper on her throat. Hicks let out a big sigh, and she backed off.

They sat there like that for a minute. The only sound was of Hick's ragged, uneven breaths and the occasional cough of blood. Shepard stared down at the floor. A single tear dropped down her cheek. He didn't deserve this. No one did. He was just a kid. Just a damn kid.

"Just…fuck!" she punched the floor.

Hicks spoke up after she settled. "My granddad had an…old saying. Always liked the way it sounded."

Shepard looked up, and her stare met grim, tired eyes. "What did he say?" she asked, softly.

"He said 'May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows you're dead.'"

The words filled the silence that followed. It reverberated through Shepard's head like an echo. She said nothing. The saying had a sense of finality about it.

A long breath from Hicks brought here out of her reverie. His head had fallen to his shoulders. His chest stopped to rise. She started, but stopped herself. There was no use.

* * *

Her head swam. The air was so thick in this room. The stench of blood and sweat swarmed her nostrils. Air had to force its way into her lungs. And a low, rhythmic hum kept beating at her ears. She felt like sleeping for an eternity. The last few hours had taken their toll.

Olivia was no stranger to death. People died by the hundreds on Elysium. Torn apart or taken and murdered by batarians. Civilians just snuffed out. Children-children!-put to death for someone else's sins. She had fought then. She killed, willingly. She had blasted holes in their godforsaken bodies with bullets. She had thrown them out her way like rag dolls. She remembered every killshot, every broken body like it was just yesterday. It was ironic; she was a soldier, but she hated killing. Shepard always had to tell herself it was for the better. That for the loss of one, many would live. She was protecting people. It was the only way she could protect people.

Her stomach never agreed with her brain. Her brain didn't even believe that bullshit.

Her father had died when she was very little. Her mother stayed strong. Hannah Shpeard was always strong. Shepard decided that she had to be strong, too. For her mom. For herself.

She couldn't remember her dad's face anymore.

And now, Hicks was gone, too. She didn't know him that well. Just that he was a newbie, but a good, loyal kid. Shepard swallowed the bile that rose to her throat. He was just a damn kid. And that damn humming noise wasn't helping anything.

It wasn't a noise, per say. It seemed to be coming from everywhere and anywhere. It pressed against her skull. Her temple pulsed as she leaned back on the wall with a dull thunk. The noise persisted. It grew louder. It started throbbing. It seemed to be coming out of her head, like a long forgotten memory. The noise buzzed in sync with the beat of her heart, accenting every thump with an echoing hum.

Shepard groaned and pulled herself up onto her feet.. Her hand found it's way to the back of her neck. The slight twinge on her fingertips reminded her of her implant buried under her skin there. She took a deep breath. Get a hold of yourself, Liv.

She still had her rifle. As she glanced over at Hicks' limp form, and anger rose up inher chest. Her jaw chenched, Shepard reached down, pulled the rest of his thermal clips off of his person, and tucked them into her own belt. A quick check on her rifle made sure everything was all right. Before leaving she gave Hicks one last look. His head was down. His face was calm. He looked almost peaceful. Almost.

Shepard pushed the stray, sweaty hair out of her face and behind her ear, and left the broken ruins of the apartment behind her.

Akuze's sun was setting on the horizon, bathing the colony in pale orange light. Shepard weaved her way in and out of the ruined structures, heading north. There was a defense tower on that side of the colony. The cannons had been taken out in the initial strike by the giant ship. They lay in flames at it's base. But the cannons were not the reason for Shepards journey. Colony defense towers weren't just homes for the GARDIAN laser systems. They also happened to be communications centers. Shepard knew that if she could reactivate the distress signal, an Alliance fleet would be there within hours. An Alliance fleet meant that that thing would be taken out, and that all this death wouldn't be for nothing.

As she came to the end of the apartment complex, she flattened her back to the wall and held her rifle ready. The thing was still there. It stood just to the left of her destination. It seemed to be inactive, however. To Shepard, it looked like it was sleeping, or hibernating. Waiting.

As she rounded the corner, she brought the rifle up to her eye. She stuck to the side of the complex, making herself as small as possible. The less chance she had to be spotted, the better. She scanned the narrow path that led into the entrance to the towers. She took careful, deliberate steps. Low humming resonated through her brain.

A shadow flashed to her left. Shepard spun, aiming her gun at a pile of debris. She shook her head, trying to shake the feeling. Hummmm.

There it was again. Something moved behind her. Sweat poured down the back of her neck. Goddamnit, she thought, trying to clear her head. I'm seeing ghosts. She kept in a crouch moving quickly and precisely through the rubble.

Hummmm.

Rocks fell off the edge of a house. Shepard jumped backward with a course of adrenaline. She looked up again. Nothing there. She stayed tense this time. Something, or someone, was still there. She didn't know who it could have been. A colonist would have recognized her as a soldier.

Hummmmm.

What if it wasn't a colonist? A ship that massive had to be piloted. So far, there had been no sign of the inhabitants. Had they come out now, to witness the destruction they caused firsthand?

Well, fuck.

Her grip on her gun tightened. She kept a mental handhold on her biotics, ready to lash put any aggressor. Two steps back, turn, back against the wall. Don't give them the element of surprise. Stay alert.

Shepard scowled to herself. She'd been to hell and back today. She had witnessed the cold murder of a hundred too many good men and women. If these sons of bitches wanted to finish her, then she would take them all down with her.

Shepard pressed her body up against the prefabs, and crouched low. The massive black ship loomed over the entire colony. The closer she got, the bigger her headache. It felt like her amp was gonna fry from the migraine. The comm station was located just underneath its body, unfortunately. She pressed on.

Hummmmm

Devastated prefabs lined her path. It occurred to her that these building were people's homes. People with families, and jobs and lives and loves; they were just people living their lives the best they could. Akuze was a beautiful place. She could have seen herself living here if she wasn't Lieutenant Shepard. These colonists had spent every day in an undiscovered country, a final frontier.

And now, within hours, every last life on the colony had been snuffed out. Just blown apart, like a weak candle by the wind, and crushed like a twig under a boot.

Hummmm.

Her thoughts were cut short by a deep growl. She spun on the spot, finger braced on the trigger of her rifle. The figure before her stole her breath.

It wasn't human. It looked like a human, but it was, different, demonic. Its skin was a twisted, black metal. Blue blood illuminated its veins, and its eyes were like bright cerulean jewels that held no beauty or shimmer, only death and rage. A scream rose in her throat, but the thing attacked before he had a chance to open her mouth.

She fired off three shots that rang throughout the rubble, but only one was able to make contact with the husks torso. It staggered, but kept charging. Shepard fired off a fourth volley, but the thing was faster than it looked. It climbed up the wall she had pressed herself against and used it's momentum to launch its whole body at her, with no concern for it's own safety. It collided with a dull thunk against her armor, dragging her down to the ground. Letting out another feral growl, it clawed at her face with inhuman fury. Adrenaline took over her body, now. In her struggle, she felt her boot make contact with something. She shoved with all her might, flinging the creature off of her. It collapsed a few feet away, giving the lieutenant time to scrabble to her feet, panting heavily. Her headache was growing more intense every second. She was certain that if she tried to use her biotics, she would faint from overexertion. Her rifle law on the ground a few feet away, knocked out of her hand from the initial impact. As the thing rose with unnatural endurance, she lunged for it-

And was tackled from the side, thrown into a nearby pit by the force of the contact. The husk tumbled down with her, screeching and clawing all the way. She growled as it scarthed her face, deepening the already bloody gash. She landed a strong hit on its ribcage, but the punch did little to faze it. Rubble slid down with them, kicking up multitudes of dust and debris. The two combatants fell one over the other down the side of the small ravine. Shepard landed first, her leg smashing into a sharp piece of debris and sending shockwaves up her spine. She gasped as maroon flooded her leg. The husk landed to her right, separated when they hit the bottom. Shepard struggled to her knees, adrenaline blocking out the majority of the pain, and blood clouding bits of her vision. Her lungs were on fire, and wave after wave of nausea emanated from her head. The husk rose again, letting out another growl before charging for a third time. This time, Olivia was ready. She steadied herself, bracing for the eventual impact. As it took it's last step toward her, she leaned forward with her shoulder, catching the creature off it's feet and hurling it over her and back onto the rocky ground. Moving with pained efficiency, she pinned it down as it squirmed and screeched for release. Anger bubbled up in her, now. All the death, and the destruction, Hicks.

Goddamn, Hicks.

With renewed vigor, she reached for a rock. It was heavy. Sharp. Good for killing. The humming intensified, fueling her anger.

The husk bucked again. She struck downward with righteous fury, smashing the stone on the husks left temple with a sickening crunch Blue blood gushed out, but she didn't stop. She struck again. And again. Fire flooded her muscles. Pleasure rose from rage. Pain was her friend. Her weapon. She struck again. And again. The husk was long dead, but she didn't care. Hot tears poured down her face, mixed with blue and red blood. She didn't know whose blood was whose, anymore. Just that it was blood. And more was coming from the demon beneath her. She struck again. Mechanical bone fell beneath every stroke. She showed no mercy.

Eventually, her arm grew tired. Every pound began to feel like she was lifting the weight of the world and bringing it down to rain vengeance. The husks body was a broken, ruined mass of indistinguishable mush. Shepard gave one last heave, bringing the rock down with a mighty roar and knocking the husks skull clean off its shoulders. It fell, lifeless, to the ground.

And with it, Shepard collapsed on her back. Every bone in her body ached. She could barely feel her leg. Her head kept buzzing. She was sure her amp was now just a lump of metal in the base of her neck.

She was so tired. Her breaths came every so often, with alarmingly little frequency. Her vision was growing cloudy. The humming in her head was ever present.

The humming…it wasn't painful, not anymore, though Shepard wasn't sure she could distinguish between pain and any other feeling, now. It was constant. Rhythmic. Whispers came with the humming, now. Like a chorus to the tune of death. It was pulsing, intense…alive. It was enticing. Was she dying?

She didn't feel like she was dying. She had suffered grievous wounds at Elysium. She had fainted, then. She felt like dying then. And these wounds were worse, far worse.

Then why wasn't she dead? Instead of life leaving her, she felt quite the opposite. The whispers coursed through her now. Lending strength instead of stealing it. She gasped for breath. The first real breath, it felt like, in an eternity. Fresh air forced its way into her lungs. The humming changed pitch, now. Shepard groaned as an unnatural surge helped her sit up. The drive to get up was almost overwhelming. Her muscles obeyed commands that didn't come from her, but that she didn't fight anyway. The struggled to her feet, and fought back the nausea. She couldn't feel her leg anymore. But the humming insisted on movement. She complied. With great effort, she took a single step. She teetered on her foot for a second, but regained her balance. She took a deep breath. Nothing mattered anymore except movement. The humming gave her strength, the whispers gave her drive. Step after step, she limped forward. There was no pain, and for that Shepard was grateful. All that remained was the overwhelming desire to go. She didn't know where, and she didn't care. She had to fulfill the urge. It was like an itch, pointing her in the right direction.

And so, Shepard made her way, slowly but steadily, step by step, toward the machine.

Hummmm.

* * *

Shepard stumbled over the final pile of debris from the shattered prefabs. Ragged breath exhaled from her lungs. Despite the assistance from the humming, the journey across the colony was exhausting. Her leg was still bleeding, but the humming blocked out the pain. It grew stronger the closer she got to the machine. It wasn't comforting, but invigorating. There was no ounce of comfort left on the planet.

Before her was the bane of her existence. The great machine stood, godlike before her. The humming was gone, now. Shepard itched. Sound was better than just eerie silence. All that was left was the overwhelming _presence_ that originated from the machine. It was like a god. A huge, evil, death loving god.

Shepard shifted slightly. This was it? This was the end of the journey? She came to destroy this thing, to avenge the death of hundreds of innocent lives. Almost divine fury had driven her then, and now…nothing. No desire, no motivation. Nothing. She scowled. Goddamnit. This really was the worst day of her life.

Feeling was starting to come back into her leg, filling her side with dull pain. Her head throbbed. The humming was back, this time with no voice of encouragement. Only one thing remained, then.

"I have come."

Her own voice surprised her. Not the strength and clarity of it after everything she had experienced, but the fact that she spoke at all. There was no one around to hear her.

Was there?

Suddenly, the humming grew louder. Now the very air seemed to vibrate with the feeling.

The machine stirred. A tremendous growl emerged from the recesses of it's bulk, resonating through Shepard's very core. She fell to her knees in awe, ignoring the crunch of bone from her leg.

The machine seemed to activate. Plates began to shift, the structure began to rise. The ground shook with the very force of the awakening of a god.

Metallic armor was peeled away. Deep within the machines being, a single, lidless, pure red eye emerged. It glowed with ancient malevolence, as it stared her down.

Shepard stared back, not out of defiance, but of fear, and awe. The humming in her head was all that she could think. The machine kept staring.

After what seemed like hours, a single thought pierced Shepards consciousness. At long last, she spoke.

* * *

"Who are you?"

"Negative."

"What?"

"I have no name, no serial number. I am not a product of your society or any other organic. I am both one and many. I and we are one in the same. There is no need to distinguish between individual units."

The organic seemed to understand to at least some extent, which was more than the Reaper expected. Just coming into contact with the ship harmed the minds of most sapients, but this one was different. Strong. The heavy indoctrination had been working for hours, yet the fine motor control of this one was still intact. Interesting.

"You seem surprised…" the Reaper continued, continuing to communicate with its new, not entirely unwilling servant. "You appear unable to comprehend…"

"No, I comprehend. I just find it…surprising that one as mighty as yourself would be without designation."

Flattery…did the organic really believe it would do her any good? Well, it wouldn't do her any harm at least, but still, her façade was obvious. Perhaps it was just the work of the indoctrination. The Reaper had probed its mind, and seen that the proud organics dreams had become equal with the one who could render galactic wide devastation. Or would, if the Citadel would react to his commands. Yet this wasn't a bad thing. Let the organic know the goals, if not the outcomes…or rather, not this specific outcome at least.

"How…how long have you been in the galaxy?"

"Negative."

"What?"

"Time…for most species, it is measured by the rotation of a planet around its star. This is imperfect. Time itself is immeasurable. The futile attempts to do so serve no purpose or meaning to me."

The organic understood, even if she didn't comprehend. As her mind buckled under the vanguard's presence, it wondered if it should rectify this. Come down to her level, allow her to understand to the extent that was required. It decided that this would be so…and what better to start than with one of its original queries?

"Perhaps your original inquiry is of relevance. In order to steamline communication, perhaps I shall provide a designation."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

The Reaper paused. The protheans had given him a name. It was not too long ago, only the last cycle, and the vanguard remembered it with silent pride, if a machine could feel such a thing.

"I am the vanguard of destruction. I am Sovereign."

* * *

**A/N -And there you have it. I'm officially AU. **

**If you're wondering why I chose Femshep instead of Sheploo, it's because Femshep has just so much more capacity for actual _character. _To me, it's like she actually has personality. Sheploo is just...a little dull. And An evil Paragade Femshep is just so awesome.  
**

**Besides, in a fight to the death between Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer, Hale wins. Easily.**


	3. A Night in Eden, Part 1

**I suck. I really do. But please don't hate me- school, especially as an International Baccalaureate, makes it hard to write, and keep writing. But, my dear readers, I assure you, Chapter 4 will come much sooner. Maybe not nine months, probably seven.**

**I kidd, of course.**

**Please enjoy.**

* * *

"This is Eden Prime Communications Center, Adam City. We've found something that higher-ups may be interested in. It seems we uncovered some ruins whilst clearing farmland, and our local history teachers seem to think it's prothean. This transmission is encrypted the best we can, so we don't attract more attention than we want. We request a formal Alliance team to come and investigate, as soon as possible. Eden Prime out."

"This is Eden Prime Communications Center…" Saran played the message twice on his omni-tool. The transmission search algorithm he had 'acquired' from one of Harkin's contacts paid off. When Saren connected it to one of his many remote servers, and pointed it towards the Traverse, he was able to bounce a signal around thousands of comm buoys to pick out any transmission with any related keywords he desired. 'Prothean ruins' were pretty high on his list.

In the years since his encounter at Camala, he had started a vigorous black operation of preparation and surveillance. Using his Spectre resources, careful to disguise himself from Valern, he was able to set up a vast network of contacts and safehouses. If there was going to be a galactic scale invasion, he was going to do everything in his power to win it, or prevent it, salarian style.

In truth, the reality of an invasion scared him. The idea that he was the only one who had any idea how to stop it scared him even more. Saren hated being scared.

Though, several months after he began his efforts, he sat down in his house on Palaven. It seemed like his first break in days. He had spent countless hours prior calling in all manner of favors to acquire weapons, secure contacts, set up safehouses, tap transmissions. Once he sat down to breathe, really _breathe_, the weight of reality caught up with him.

"I'm stocking up for a galactic war all on my own," he thought. And, despite his stress, he felt, almost alive. His body was more energetic and his mind more focused doing this than any operation or mission he had done under the Council. Sure, he was enforcing galactic peace, but there was never any tangible outcome. Saren often felt like the only thing he was doing was making the galaxy emptier, rather than saving lives.

With this, he was invigorated. He was determined with a clearly defined goal. And he knew, deep inside, that what he was doing was going to make a difference. This was his purpose in life, and this gave him drive.

When he became stressed, he always removed his shawl for a minute. The cloth was Valluvian, handmade on Palaven. It was a formal piece of clothing from his religion, of the old spirits of his homeworld. The spirits watched over him and guided his actions for the better. It gave him small comfort and reassurance of his plans.

And now, years later, it seemed the spirits were pointing him in the direction of Eden Prime, a human colony in the Traverse. Completely unremarkable in every way, and yet something about the transmission made his fringe twitch. Saren felt like this unremarkable colony was the place that he needed to be.

So he punched in the coordinates, and sat back as the mass relay carried his shuttle into deep space.

* * *

The SSV Normandy's engines hummed with energy. The stars raced past at faster than light speeds, creating the effect of flying through a river of swords. The dim glow of the cockpit display illuminated the room with gentle and vibrant orange light.

And Joker was discreetly trying to disguise the fact that he was watching porn from his co-pilot while flying the ship at ten times the speed of light. Kaidan didn't mind. Joker was witty and sarcastic, and quite fun to poke fun with when Anderson wasn't around. Besides, as long as he kept his headphones on, not even the muffled moaning of Ei Teela vas Boom Boom could interrupt his peace of mind.

The sound of clawed boots on the deck broke his meditation, however.

"Joker," he hissed, tapping his hand on the dashboard. The footsteps loomed closer, and the pilot's attention was entirely focused on something Kaidan didn't even want to know. "Joker!"

"Report?" Kaidan stifled a laugh of pity as his friend jumped about three feet in the air above his chair, switching off his secondary console with inhuman speed.

Kaidan snuck a glance at the newcomer. Nihlus Kryik was a turian Spectre, the official 'ambassador' from the Hierarchy aboard the Normandy for its test run. He was shorter for a turian, but no less intimidating. His black and red armor held several extremely deadly weapons on his back. Kaidan half expected him to fall over or stumble, or at least slouch with all that weight. Though, Kaidan had to admit, the guy had some shred of professionalism. He gave Joker a facial expression Kaidan assumed was the turian equivalent of raising one's eyebrows as the pilot reacted then struggled to recover his flight data, but allowed Joker to compose himself before responding.

"Erhm…Thrusters, check. Navigation, check. Internal emissions sinks engaged. Board is green. Drift just under 1500k."

Nihlus's mandibles bristled. "Good. Your captain will be pleased." And with that, he strode out of the cabin. Joker let out a huge breath.

"I hate that guy," he admitted.

Kaidan chuckled. "Nihlus gave you a compliment, so you hate him?" Joker gave a snort of derision.

"I just jumped us half way across the galaxy and hit the target the size of a pinhead! I don't know if turians have a different number system than us, but a drift of 1500 should never, in any context, ever be anything below phenomenal!" he fumed.

"You're just mad that he caught you watching porn."

"Shut up, LT," Joker grumbled, halfheartedly throwing a datapad at Kaidans face. His copilot ducked, grinning. "Besides, I don't like having Spectres aboard. They're trouble. Call me paranoid."

"You're paranoid," Kaidan shot back. "It's understandable that the council would want to oversee their little investment."

"I wouldn't exactly call it 'little', Alenko," A new voice rang out. For the second time that day, Joker nearly fractured a collarbone leaping out of his chair. Kaidan suppressed a frown as a slim hand grasped the arm of his chair, and tried to keep his gaze away from his superior officer. "That's a term I like to use for something else Joker likes to pilot in his spare time,"

Joker snorted again. Olivia Shepard chuckled, her red hair ever present even in Kaidan's peripheral vision. When she noticed the lieutenant trying extremely hard to read the same line of data over and over again, she giggled again. "What's the matter, LT? Can't take a little humor?"

"No ma'aam. I mean, yeah, but…" His cheeks burned, and it was all Joker could do not to burst out laughing. Shepard asked again, oblivious. "What, Alenko, cat got your tongue?"

"Not really a cat, more like-" Joker ducked, this time on the receiving end of a flying datapad. Kaidan turned, his gaze locked with the commanders, momentarily caught for breath.

The commander was not what Kaidan would normally call beautiful, but there was a certain elegance to Shepard that he found intriguing. She was not tall, but fit, with strong arms for a woman and subtle curves held in place by her officer's uniform. Her face was very pretty, with auburn hair tied back in a military ponytail and freckled cheeks. Kaidan couldn't help but get flustered whenever he talked to her; he wasn't attracted to her, not sexually, but something about her presence rubbed him the wrong way. When he had told Joker, the pilot had taken that a bit too literally, and thus made it his mission to annoy the living hell out of him.

Kaidan mused that he would have found Shepard attractive if it weren't for her eyes. They were a sharp, electric blue. Other men on the ship found it pretty sexy, but it just unnerved him. Sure, they were bright and flashed when she laughed, but there was an underlying danger to him that made him feel as if the commander was more than she let on.

They flashed again as she shot Alenko one of her signature grins. "Just kidding, LT. No need to get violent." She lifted her hand from his chair, and her smile dropped slightly, though her eyes betrayed a hint of something that made Kaiden's skin crawl. "Save it for when we get to Eden Prime."

"What's on Eden Prime, Alenko's voice?" Joker quipped.

Kaiaen scowled again and turned back to his screen, but stiffened when Shepard spoke again.

"Actually, we're pretty sure it's geth."

Kaidan spun, but the commander was gone. He saw Joker had done the same, incredulous. They shared a glance, both thinking the same thing. Geth, beyond the Veil? It seemed almost too far-fetched to be true.

Joker summed up the feeling in the room in two words.

"Well, shit."

* * *

Thoughts whizzed through Kaidan's heads faster than the bullets flying around the ship. The instant Shepard mentioned that they would find geth on Eden Prime, his analytical mind-though Joker just called it an anal mind- struggled to make sense of it all.

Geth had disappeared beyond the Perseus Veil centuries ago, after their war with the Quarians. Only their creators had had any contact with them at all, but Kaidan knew that those were more than likely small skirmishes and never anything with the magnitude of what Shepard and Captain Anderson suggested. Once he read the briefing alongside his companions, an eerie feeling in the back of his head told him whatever was happening had something to do with the Prothean ruins. After all, what other reason would a race of sentient machines want light-years from their stolen homeworld in the middle of the Attican Traverse?

` All that thinking brought on a mild migraine. Chakwas had given him a combat drug to help him focus on his way down to the hangar, but nothing could really take away that knot in his stomach, or the weight of his combat armor on his shoulders. He shifted, aware that he really shouldn't be complaining. He donned light armor and a single machine pistol- his own personal preference for a Sentinel class. His offensive and defensive capabilities lay in his biotics, not his marksmanship or brawn, and a field medic needed to be quick in order to respond to his teammates.

He gulped as he felt Joker steer the Normandy past what he assumed was quite a bit of enemy fire, judging from the muffled swearing in his comm. Kaidan had glimpsed geth fighters inbound, but he had faith that Joker would see them through. "Best damn pilot in the alliance," echoed through his head as he recalled the look of determination in his friend's eyes he had seen leaving the cockpit.

Beside him, the giant who called himself Corporal James Vega flexed his huge arms, sporting a huge set of armor to match the man himself. It was well polished and tough, and an equally ferocious shotgun was slung across his back, with his assault rifle gripped tightly in his bear paws. Despite his thuggish appearance, Kaiden knew that James was smarter than he looked, and one of the nicest guys on the crew. His big goofy grin and mean poker face were always a plus at the nightly gambles, too.

Vega sensed his discomfort, and patted his arm comfortingly, leaving a bruise on Kaiden's bicep. He winced, but managed to smile back at his friend. Vega beamed, but turned to attention the second Shepard and Nihlus walked in.

The Spectre looked no different than Kaidan remembered ever seeing him- carrying enough firepower for a small army and a look that could curdle sour milk. He stiffened to attention, and Nihlus nodded in acknowledgement.

"At ease, boys," Shepard commanded, struggling to remain upright as Joker maneuvered through a minefield of anti-aircraft and interceptor fire. She was outfitted in combat gear, as well- Anderson had assigned her to lead the team down, and she had certainly come prepared. She donned her N7 armor, to represent her military achievement. The 'N' designation was for Special Forces, the '7' for completing the highest level of training.

The telltale violet hue of biotics followed her, reminding Kaiden of her prowess. Although he carried an L2 implant, letting his powers spike from time to time, her L3n implants allowed her more control and stability. Coupling that with her natural strength in the field- noted, by some, to be the highest of any known human yet- and you had the one hell of a marine.

Her visage couldn't mask her eyes, however. Even in the dim lighting of the hangar bay, they were practically glowing blue. It made Kaiaen's skin crawl, but Vega gave no indication that he had noticed.

"Any advice for what we might find down there, ma'am?" He quipped, no nonsense.

Shepard frowned. "I have no clue. My best guess is to head for the center of the colony. Anderson said that that's where the Prothean artifact was. If the Geth are after it, then we need to acquire it in order to divert their forces away from these people."

Nihlus chipped in as well. "Be aware that no one, save the Quarians, have had any experience with these machines for hundreds of years. Expect the unexpected."

Kaidan and James nodded in affirmation. Shepard slipped on her helmet, and her marines followed suit.

The company braced themselves as the hanger doors opened, revealing the blood red sunset of Eden Prime bathing the fires and rubble of the colony in deep crimson. The ramp extended out, stopping several feet above the grassy earth, and Joker's voice quipped over the radio.

"Drop time 30 seconds. Go get 'em boys. Erm, ma'am."

Kaidan stifled a groan, but neither officer seemed to notice. Nihlus gripped his rifle and leapt down first, landing gracefully on his hind talons. Shepard went second, floating downwards with a hint of biotics trailing behind. Kaidan followed, successfully keeping his knees from buckling with a pillow of biotics. A large thud behind him Vega had landed as well. The Normandy's engines hummed as Joker steered it away from the landing zone, and off to safety. Kaidan watched it go, and mentally steeled himself. Go time.

The four settled into formation. Nihlus took point, Vega took rear. Kaiden stayed three steps behind the Commander, covering her back with two hands on his pistol and a third on his biotics. They moved quickly through the marshy hills, few words exchanged, except for a hand signal here and there.

Nihlus paused after a few minutes, then shot to the side, behind a tree. Shepard moved left, taking cover behind a rock with Vega at her back. Kaidan ducked behind Nihlus, as the turian held a raised fist and leveled his gun to his eye. Kaiden popped his head out mere inches to get a better view.

Two robots, who he assumed were geth, were positioned around a machine in the clearing ahead. The thing was strange mass of tubes arranged conically. Pale blue fluid seemed to emanate from the power cells at the bottom. A hovercraft of similar design floated a few feet from their position, and Kaidan realized with a sickening lurch that it carried human bodies. The two clicked and hummed in a strange mimicry of language, before the one on the left picked up a body and brought it over to the machine, placing it in the center.

Suddenly, a huge spike rose up from the thing and impaled the human through the chest. Kaidan gasped, and he felt Nihlus tighten in front of him. He braced his gun, and saw Vega readying his arsenal out of the corner of his eye as well.

Then, all of a sudden, a twig snapped, and the geth's attentions were diverted elsewhere. Out of the other side of the clearing came two humans, stumbling more than running, a man and a woman. Behind them came two flying drones blasting away with mass accelerator guns. The ground behind them was ripped apart as projectiles narrowly missed their feet.

The man noticed the new geth first. "Ash, look out!" he cried, swinging his shotgun back to face the old aggressors.

His partner, the one in white, got the hint, and leveled her gun at the geth. By that time, the two troopers had acknowledged the threat and raised their weapons. She ducked left to avoid the first volley, which flew past her and bounced off her partners shields. Two quick shots disabled the first geth, but the second was faster, and was able to return fire quick enough to push her behind a nearby ledge.

Her companion fared better. The blue tint of biotics flared in Kaidens vision, enveloping the man in a translucent violet barrier. The shots from the drones bounced effortlessly off him. A ricocheted shot glanced one of the drones flanks, sending it spiraling to the ground with a fiery crash. With a grin, the man crouched with his gun and delivered three slugs downrange, blasting apart the oblivious drones.

With horror, Kaidan realized his victory would be short lived. The human corpse, impaled mere meters away, had fallen off its hook and risen once more. This time, however, the face of a human colonist was replaced with a vicious, mechanical beast of a creature with deadly blue veins and pale, ashy, metallic skin. It charged with a shriek and tackled the man before he realized what was going on. He let out a frustrated grunt as he hit the ground hard, the monster screeching and clawing at his face with inhuman fury.

As his companion was pinned down, she growled in frustration at her helpless situation. The geth trooper kept up covering fire, ensuring that she couldn't move to assist her partner. At this point, Kaidan sensed a shift in his own group. Looking up, he realized that Nihlus had taken initiative and leapt up to lend reinforcements. With a glance at Vega, he followed suit, with Shepard not far behind.

Nihlus closed the distance between himself and the trooper in mere seconds. Silently, he flicked out his Omni-blade and dismembered the geth with a single leaping slash.

Kaidan, Vega, and Shepard wasted no time in jumping to the aide of the man, who was, more literally, pinned down by the mechanic zombie, who clawed at her face relentlessly. Vega raised his gun, and launched inhuman volley of massively accelerated projectiles, blasting the creature off the man and ripping apart its skeleton. When his clip ran out, The creature rose, somehow still standing after that barrage.

With that, Shepard answered its screech with a shockwave of biotics, lifting it up and slamming it down with enough force to shatter it's skull. The thing did not stir again.

Vega let out a whistle. "Damn. The hell is that thing?" He asked, his tone angry. "Some kind of geth voodoo?"

"I don't know…"Shepard replied, staring down the creature. Her eyes narrowed, and turned her attention to the fallen guard Kaidan was attending to. "You alright, soldier?" She barked.

The man was sitting upright, the side of his face bloody and ripped from the creature's furious attack. He winced as Kaidan applied the medi-gel, and looked over his less serious wounds.

"Yes, ma'am. Takes more than a few scratches to put me out for the count," he replied with a low, husky voice. He seethed again when the cool healing liquid brushed against his cut forehead.

"Easy…"Kaidan murmured. He was no Chakwas, but he knew the hints of a concussion when he saw them. Coupled with the beating his barriers took, he was surprised the marine hadn't collapsed already from the strain. This one was tough.

"What's your name, big guy?" he asked. Waving his omni-tool over the marine's forehead, he was surprised to find very little indication of severe head trauma. Small bruises on the outer edges of the skull and scratches here and there on the scalp, but there was nothing life threatening. Kaiden withdrew his omni-tool and stood, holding out his hand to brace his new comrade.

"Taylor, Jacob Taylor," he replied, taking Kaidans outstretched hand with a nod of gratitude. He looked around for his shotgun, and was pleasantly surprised to find it in Vegas hands, who returned it to its owner with a second nod of thanks. Raised voices turned their attention to the other half of their group.

The three men turned to find their companions in an almost comical example of a Mexican standoff. The woman in white armor had her rifle leveled at Nihlus' head, and the turian had responded in kind. Shepard held her pistol leveled at the marine, but a palm of biotics pointed directly at Nihlus. Kaiden reached for his biotics as Vega gripped his rifle out of the corner of his eye. This could get ugly, fast.

"-a turian, ma'am. On a human colony." He heard the woman say in a gruff voice, never flinching despite her situation. "We were just attacked. How do you know you can trust him?"

Nihlus response with laced with animosity. "How do we know that we can trust you? We just saw some kind of husk of a human try to kill your friend. How are we to know that the same kind of indoctrination has not happened to you?"

"I was shooting at the damn flashlight heads, you mother-" The woman shrieked, but was cut off by Shepard.

"Enough!" she yelled. Her voice silenced both of them. Kaiden couldn't help but wince as her shout echoed past with unnatural base.

"This 'turian' is Nihlus Kryik, a Citadel Spectre and licensed liaison for the council on this mission. You will get in line and treat him with respect, Chief," she growled. The woman gave her a second glance, and tentatively lowered her gun. Nihlus did the same, but not before getting the same treatment as his former opponent.

"Nihlus, if you ever pull a gun on one of my people again, I swear to whatever God that I will kill you without a moment's hesitation, no matter the consequences. Am I clear?" she seethed. Nihlus gave her a similar look.

"Shepard, last time I checked, I was the senior officer of this party," He spoke in that calm voice that Kaiden had come to associate with the delivery of veiled threats. Shepard took a step forward, and looked Nihlus in the eye again. The turian stood his ground against the petite woman, but Kaiden had a feeling that her eyes were giving him the turian equivalent of the sweats.

"Don't think, for one damn second, that I give two shits about your 'Council policy' when there are human lives at stake," she snarled. "Don't think that I give a damn about bloody chain of command when we are under attack from God knows who for God knows why." Nihlus kept up his air of indifference despite the commanders' brazen and insubordinate rant, but the medic knew enough about aliens to recognize the subtle nervous twinge of the Spectre's head fringe.

Shepard continued, undaunted. "So, if you want to arrest me, fine. You'll have to haul me across the rest of this colony in chains when you could have me save your scaly ass from some robot bullets. So once again, Nihlus, am I clear?"

Kaidan was sure if he was not sweating like crazy and with his biotics near busting, he would find the sight of a Turian Spectre admitting defeat to a human woman near a foot shorter than him quite funny.

"Crystal, Commander," he said flatly. His mandibles twitched, and Shepard stepped back down. Vega and Kaidan both let out sighs of relief, and she was at last alerted to their presence.

Kaidan winced as her eyes fell across both of them before settling on Jacob. The marine stiffened, but from her gaze or out of respect, Kaidan was unsure. She walked over, pistol still in hand.

"I don't think we've been introduced, marine," she said calmly, as if the previous few minutes had not occurred. "Staff Commander Olivia Shepard, SSV Normandy SR-1."

Jacob gave a curt salute. "Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Eden Prime Garrison, ma'am," he replied, for the second time that day.

Shepard returned his salute, and turned now to the new woman, still a few meters to their left. She paced anxiously, always one eye on Nihlus and one finger on the trigger. At Shepards beckon, she jogged over the group, and arrived at attention.

"Gentlemen, may I introduce Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, also Eden Prime Garrison," Shepard said. Nihlus gave a stiff nod. Kaiden and Vega both saluted briskly.

Jacob simply murmured, "Hey," under his breath. Williams shot him a quick grin, and stood at ease.

Unlike Shepard, Ashley's eyes, as far as Kaidan could see, were a deep, warm brown, in sharp contrast to the Commanders electric, energetic blue. They remained him of chocolates, all homely and rich, not sharp or dangerous. He liked them, and shuffled his feet nervously as Williams attention was drawn, once more, to Nihlus.

"What's going on here, Chief?" the Spectre asked inquisitively. Ash shared a look with the Commander, who nodded. Williams spoke up, tentative.

"At 0500 hours this morning we were attacked by some kind of ship, something like I've never seen before. We saw it's weapons take out the few gunships we've got, cut through 'em like butter, but it never turned them on us. Then, before we knew it, there were these geth pouring out of it like ants out of an anthill."

Jacob joined in at this point. "We're a small colony-not many defenses. The GARDIAN towers were taken down pretty quickly. The geth hit fast- as far as I know, we're the only soldiers who survived the initial attack. We think most of the colonists got into the hills, but they weren't here for people. Just that thing at the digsite."

Shepard and Nihlus shared a glance. "The prothean ruins, "Shepard murmured. "What do they want?" She took a few steps back, thinking. Vega kept his eyes on their surroundings, his big bear hands wrapped tightly around his rifle. Ashley moved to check on Jacob, though she kept an eye on Nihlus, a move the turian mirrored.

By now, the sun had set on Eden Prime. Dim fires burned around them, too far away but ever present, reminding them constantly of their situation. After a few minutes, Kaidan walked over beside the commander. In the light of the colony's moons, he could still make out her face, scrunched up in deep thought.

He put a hand on her shoulder, and the commander jumped. They locked eyes, and he saw the blue spark flickering out, replaced instead with a vulnerable look of a woman who was still, only human. He gave a reassuring grin and a murmured a few words of confidence. The shadow of a smile and the flicker of a thanks rose to her lips, but they were interrupted by a shout from Jacob.

"There it is!" he said in a hushed voice. Their company tensed up, and Kaiden looked up.

In the distance, a huge monolith rose out of the landscape of fiery ruins and forest. It was pitch black, standing out even against the navy blue twilight sky. The machine was massive, Kaidan saw, easily twice as big as any ship he'd ever seen. It was docked in the center of the colony, near where he assumed the dig site was. From a distance, he could make out huge ripples of energy flowing up and down its hull, bathing the machine in a vibrant, malevolent red. The sight of it gave him goose bumps, like the very air vibrated with negativity.

He felt Shepard shudder with a sharp intake of breath. He looked to see her stiffen, her gaze transfixed on the ship in the distance.

"Commander?" he asked, concerned. Shepard did not respond. He asked again, and shook her shoulder this time. Still no response.

Her eyelids fluttered, like she was blinking rapidly, but her eyes remained locked on the ship. His heart skipped a beat when he saw her eyes shine blue in the night, and another shake brought her out of her stupor.

Kaidan kept his hand on her shoulder, steadying her as she swayed. When she opened her eyes, he met her stare head on, trying, once again, to ignore the knot in his stomach when they peered into his soul.

"Shepard?" He asked again. "You okay?"

Her eyelids fluttered, but a grin spread across her face, the dangerous grin that always made him squirm.

"I'm fine, LT," She said. "Never…better."

Sovereign had made contact.

* * *

**Explanations are in order, I believe.**

**Vega- Honestly, just covering my bases. I like to include everybody in my story, and James seemed the perfect guy to fit in this scenario. Sorry, no Jenkins. Much more epic.**

**Taylor- Because "I was at Eden Prime" really just doesn't cut it. And, quite frankly, I have a soft spot for the series' resident Old Spice guy. Don't worry, all you Taylor haters, he won't have a significant role until the alternative events to Mass Effect 2 come to fruition. **

**Which, I promise, won't take a decade to get to.**

**Anderson will return. And Joker will Joke.**

**Shepard will rise.**

**Dun dun DUN.**

***Edit- Kaidans name is now officially 'Kaidan', not 'Kaiden'. Much thanks to TheRev28. Shame on the rest of you for not noticing. :P**


	4. A Night in Eden, Part 2

**A/N: Told you. Only three months this time. Gavoon, no Gandalf beards! Hooray!**

**Yeah, but still, I know that that is WAY to long, especially for the length I average. Blame finals. And swimming championships. And the fact that Mass Effect (the first one) is now available on the PS3, giving me yet another something to do in my spare time instead of write. **

**Don't worry, though. All it really did for me was reinvigorate my love of this story. I know it sounds egotistical, but as I was writing the chapter outlines for Saren's Effect, I couldn't help but think to myself, "This is going to be so flipping sweet."**

**When I eventually get to it.**

**So, in an effort to distract you from the fact that I'm kind of lazy, try this joke!**

**What do you call an engineer when he's being mean?**

**An omni-TOOL.**

**Heh.**

**Enjoy. I own nothing. **

* * *

Sweat poured from Kaidan's brow. His lungs were on fire, but it helped that the dull thumping from the back of his skull blocked out any other feelings of exhaustion. The group's boots thudded on the think, metallic catwalks that crisscrossed above Eden Prime's residential district. If his comrades were tired as well, then they showed no signs of it. They kept running, trying desperately to reach their objective-the Prothean obelisk. Pre-fab lights shone on the path, directing them through the midnight labyrinth of walkways and stairs. So many stairs.

Though Ashley had claimed it was still at the dig site, the marines, plus the Spectre, were dismayed to find that it had been moved when they arrived. Nihlus, in particular, was seething silently at the Chief, and the Commander. Kaidan could understand it, at least a little. He needed someone to blame, some reason, at least, for the delay, but the ever growing presence of Shepard was more than enough to keep him quiet, at least on that particular topic. Instead, they moved past it, and the nearby data logs-surprisingly uncorrupted by the attack- pointed towards the center of the colony, near the landing pad, according to Jacob.

However, the closer they got to their destination, the more and more geth decided to show up. Shepard, Jacob, and Kaidan's biotics were soon spread thin applying barriers and launching counterattacks to the coordinated assaults. Jacob seemed to be the more defensive kind of guy; he would bring up a personal shield and get up close to fight. He most likely had blunt force biotic training, to match the melee style of fighting he preferred. Shepard, on the other hand, was a whirlwind of power. She would charge forward in a flash, delivering biotic strikes where she could and bullets where she couldn't. The intensity of her fighting style was…frightening, to say the least.

Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams wasn't a specialist, but she proved herself at least as deadly as the commander with her guns. Unlike Vega, who relied on heavier, more powerful machine guns, the Chief preferred a marksman's approach- steady aim, steady shot. She was precise and efficient, taking out her targets in the smallest amount of time.

Speaking of precision, the legend that was Nihlus Kryhik put any spoken words to shame- he outran, outshot, and out maneuvered any geth that targeted him. The guy had definitely earned his Spectre status. The story Jenkins had told about him fighting off an entire platoon single handed wasn't so hard to believe now as it had been around the poker table.

They kept running, and running. If what Jacob and Ashley claimed was true, they needed to retrieve it before the geth captured it, retreated back into their monolithic ship, and fled back beyond the Veil, for whatever reason they wanted it.

In front of him, Jacob ducked as a geth bullet passed mere inches above his head. He had to give them credit, the machines never did know when to quit. Kaidan spun in unison with Vega, unleashing a cryo-freeze program from his Omni-tool as the latter let loose a short burst from his rifle. He kept up his pace, trying desperately not to trip over his own legs as he ran. The group rounded a corner, and he heard Shepard shout "Down!"

Kaidan grabbed Vega's collar and yanked him hard, sending the corporal stumbling to his knees behind a large crate as a volley of geth fire filled their shadows with holes. Taking a deep breath, he peeked out from behind their cover on the opposite side, leveling his pistol to eye level and readying his Omni-tool again.

Before him stood a whole company of geth troopers, accompanied by a huge colossus of a machine on four legs. Their mechanic humming reverberated as they moved to face the new intruders. Their flashlight heads tilted sideways and turned red as they targeted the group. Three of the troopers had focused fire on himself and Vega. Another half dozen were converging on another wall where Ashley and Shepard had made their nest. Jacob was busy darting from box to box, taking out any geth that got too close with a biotic punch or a shotgun slug to the face.

And Nihlus was busy being the big goddamn hero, strafing to the side and drawing the massive geth's attention away from his teammates. He let loose a dozen shots, two of which glanced the colossus' shield and another which penetrated its eyepiece. The monster of a machine responded with a blast from its cannon, forcing the turian to the ground to avoid being incinerated. He rolled left, avoiding the second shot. His shield flared, and he ducked right to dodge the remaining few troopers, who now focused solely on him.

With stark realization, Kaidan acted quickly. He raised his Omni-tool, loading up his overload program and targeting the colossus with his left hand and letting loose a biotic from his right. The twitch in his skull signaled the spike on his biotics. He groaned preemptively- this was going to hurt him a lot more than it was going to hurt the geth. The L2 implant surged, and his nervous system was jump started with adrenaline, letting the blast fly like a massive wave of water.

The overload hit first, disrupting the machine's shields and paralyzing the troopers beneath it. The colossus turned just in time to get a literal smack in the face from Kaidan's second attack. The edges of his vision hazed, but he was able to get the image of the colossus struggling to remain upright. Its headlight flickered, but his view was diverted to a sudden pang to his left, where he saw half a dozen geth fly into the air like rag dolls. A blue shockwave tossed them outwards form one of Shepard's lift grenades. Ashley poked her head out of cover, finishing the helpless floating machines with several quick shots, like fish in a barrel.

All of a sudden, a huge hand grabbed Kaidan's head and forced him down. He was just able to make out the blue light of a giant mass accelerator round that almost razed his nose before his head hit the box, turning his vision red. The back of his head grew warm, sending a small wave of pain through his skull. Somehow, that thing was still alive, and still trying to take off his head, which now pounded with the stress of his implant. He forced himself to keep his puke down, and let out a huge breath instead. Vega shouted something at him, but the noise was drowned out by the ringing in his head. The large man shoved him down and rolled out of cover, drawing a grenade launcher from his back.

Wait, a grenade launcher?

Vega shouted something else and took a knee. Jacob and Nihlus perked up, and dove for cover behind nearby crates. The colossus straightened up, and its eye glowed red. It tilted its head, locking on to the marine before Vega let out a roar (Kaidan was glad he was able to hear that much, but only for a second) and pulled the trigger.

Faster than his eye could follow, Kaidan could only hear the boom of the grenade as it burst from Vega's launcher with a flare of yellow and see the resulting trail of smoke and light as it screamed toward its destination. It blasted into the colossus with an equally concussive boom. The giant geth staggered, the metal plates on its armor groaning under the strain. Another grenade followed it, tipping the machine on its side. A third round to the stomach, and it exploded with a fiery boom, taking with it the rest of the geth company still shocked by Kaidan's attack.

The threat gone, at least for now, Vega rose, breathing heavily. He tossed the grenade launcher to the ground and walked over to Kaidan. A quick smile and an outstretched hand were more than enough to get the lieutenant back on his feet.

"Where the hell did you get one of those?" he asked, breathlessly. The pounding from his implant was going to hurt for a while. Kaidan made a mental note to get stronger combat migraine meds from Chakwas when they got back.

Vega laughed. "Took it off one of the troopers while we were running. Good thing, too, else you might be one big fried son of a bitch."

Kaidan chuckled, and fetched his pistol from the ground before he heard Jacob let out a long, low whistle.

The two looked over at the rest of the group, who looked no worse for wear. They were all staring, wide-eyed, at the Prothean obelisk.

In the back of his mind, where most of his feeling was coming from today, anyway, he found it hard to believe that they had gone through that entire firefight without noticing the giant, glowing, green statue in the corner.

"The hell…," Vega muttered.

They advanced toward the thing, curious. It was simple, yet ornate. The material was more stone than metallic, Kaidan noticed. Several lines of glistening green light ran up and down its sides. It stood on a durasteel pedestal, near the wall of the complex. Beside it lay the bodies of the geth they had taken out, most likely a guard team to protect it before they could get it onto that giant ship of theirs. Shepard took another step toward it, in front of the others. Kaidan could see her deep blue eyes in contrast to the pale green the obelisk emitted.

Until, quite suddenly, the lines of light on the obelisk tinted red. Shepard froze, and her eyes flashed. She took a step back, and a deep breath when they reversed back to green. She glanced around nervously.

"What was that?" Jacob spoke, inquisitive. "It never did that before."

"Yeah…" Ashley agreed, quietly. "What's going on"

Silence hung over them like a blanket. The air grew thick, but why Kaidan never knew. His eyes were on Shepard. Her eyes never left the obelisk. She said nothing, like she was deep in thought.

He was about to chip in his two cents when he felt something, a shift in tension. Shepards eyes didn't move. They just stared, unblinkingly, at the prothean device. The others spoke in hushed tones, but their voices started to fade away. All he could see was her eyes, her blue as blue eyes. His migraine thumped repetitively in his mind. He was paralyzed by them, entranced. The air around him started to hum something low in his ears. It was so intense, so loud it drowned out his other senses. The pain in his head lit his head on a slow, pulsing fire.

He failed to notice the subtle journey of her hand, inch by inch, down to her belt. He failed to notice it glance over her gun, and then move to the grenades at her side. He failed to notice her unclip it, and slip it up her back just as the base of her neck began to turn violet…

And suddenly his whole world was upside-down. He was flung into the air with a tremendous boom. The echo lifted him off his feet, weightless for mere seconds. Then the wave brought him crashing back down, tumbling across the deck with ungraceful force.

He was dizzy. He couldn't think. The only thing he could process was the fact that Shepard had just attacked them. The thought ran through his head like a bad dream. It kept going and going, never sounding right. There was no way she would attack them. She was Shepard. She attacked them. No, that didn't even sound right. She attacked them. No. Yes. No.

His head spun. His vision was blurry. He slid in and out on consciousness. In and out of the back, he recalled several things. First, she was staring at them, all of them. Her face was unreadable.

Then black. She approached the obelisk again. It shone red again, matching the hue of her omni-tool. He vaguely thought it shouldn't be that color, then black.

Then the obelisk surged. Shepard was lifted up, glowing green as information was wrung from the device like water from a towel.

Then black. Shepard was slumped on the ground, she stood, ignoring the static from her comm the sounded like Jokers frantic voice. He yanked the thing from her ear and crushed it in a blue fist.

Black. Shepard was talking with geth, directing them. That didn't make sense, either. Shepard attacked them. No. She was a traitor. No, Shepard was no traitor, Kaidan thought as hard as he could. She…

She looked over, again, at her fallen comrades. The geth chatter was unintelligible, but Shepard spoke something to them Kaidan couldn't hear. The troopers nodded acknowledgement, and Shepard turned away as they approached the unconscious soldiers, strewn on the cold metal platform. Kaidan tried to rise, but intense vertigo forced him back down into a slump. Spit and bile came up into his mouth. A hard geth foot stomped down by his face, sending shivers up his spine. The geth raised its gun to his head, the flashlight staring down into his eyes with a disconcerting lack of empathy…

The light in its head exploded, and Kaidan turned, too fast, to see four other geth collapse with bullet holes in their heads. Nihlus struggled to stand, raising his pistol. The barrel was red hot, and smoking. The turian held fast to the railing, grunting as he supported himself. He panted, and leveled his gun at Shepard's head. The marine stared back, eyes unblinking. Two more of her geth companions circled her, rifles raised at the Spectre. They chattered, but Shepard held a hand up to stop them.

Nihlus growled, and pulled himself all the way up, still leaning on the rail. His pistol remained firm, despite the rest of his body shaking.

"You…" He spat out, with as much venom as his strained lungs could manage.

"Me," Shepard agreed icily.

Nihlus breathed heavily. The grenade must have hit him the hardest, Kadian realized; his armor was charred from the initial blast, and scratched and dented from his fall. The turian had guts, he had to admit.

"Why?" was all he could manage. His gun wavered.

Shepard didn't budge. The geth at her side clicked.

"Why what?" she asked.

Nihlus spat out a clump of blood. "Your…own people…You swore…"

"Exactly," Shepard shot back. "I swore to protect them any way I know how."

She turned her head away from Kaidan, and Nihlus's hand gripped his gun to tightly Kaidan was sure he would break it in two.

He couldn't see her eyes, but he imagined them glowing, like they did whenever she felt particularly…powerful. They stared off into the distance, where the hulking, black form of the alien ship loomed, and somehow cast an eerie red glow across the colony. Shepard spoke slowly and quietly.

"Sovereign's way is the only way," She finally answered. "The Reapers are coming."

The strange bass of her voice carried, and Kaidan shivered. The back of her neck started to glow, and Kaidan closed his eyes. He knew, somehow, what was coming next.

A gunshot rang out, then a thunderous rush of wind. Then a sickening crunch, and silence. Somewhere, a geth chattered, and a tear ran down Kaidans cheek.

And then another shot rang out. Kaidan's eyes burst open as yet another geth trooper collapsed to the ground. Shepard spun around as two more of the robots fell with similar dull thunks. Gone was her visage of confidence and control. Confusion and anger boiled up now.

She assumed a fighting stance, and her amp started to glow once more. Quiet hung over the scene like a blanket. Kaidan sucked in a breath-

And a volley of shots bombarded Shepard, covering her in gold-and violet specks. She dove to the side as the bullets bounced off her barrier, and grabbed one of the fallen geth rifles. She somersaulted to avoid the next round and crouched, rifle level, a scowl on her face. Her blue eyes flashed as she searched for her invisible assailant.

And a furious roar tore her to her feet. Kaidan couldn't see much, only a figure sprint over the roof of the complex and unleash an omni-blade. Shepard swore and dove to the side as the glowing sword embedded itself into the ground where she had been kneeling not a second before. In the golden glow of the weapon, Kaidan could just barely make out a turian face, growling with livid fury. Shepard raised her rifle and fired, but her opponent was too quick. The blade-which, as Kaidan realized with awe- was attacked to the barrel of her assailant's gun- slashed outward, slicing the nose of her gun in half. Shepard grunted, and ducked down just in time to avoid another stab.

Before he could get in another strike, biotics rippled up Shepard's arms, and the turian was thrown away in a wave of blue. He flipped backward and landed on his feet, but his gun clattered to the ground a few feet away. Undaunted he drew forth two pistols from his belt, raising them like a gunslinger towards the angry marine. Two flashes let out before he was slammed by a charging Shepard, who pushed him back against the wall. One of the pistols fell, helplessly from his grasp. But the turian didn't let up- a swift kick to the woman's stomach sent her reeling, but his follow up shot was dodged. He shot again as Shepard closed in for the second time.

This time he was ready. Another shot glanced harmlessly past as she ducked, but he was able to get in two punches in the shoulder before being hit by a massive biotic kick. He raised his gun arm to block it, but the gun was knocked away. Shepard smirked, but the turian was expressionless as he grabbed her now vulnerable leg and twisted. Shepard yelped and spun in a second kick that whipped the turian's face with her heel. He grunted and stumbled at the impact, but not before slamming the helpless marine to the ground. Shepard hit the floor with a grunt, but wasted no time in jumping to her feet and into a crouching stance.

The turian assumed a similar pose, but this time he had drawn a long, deadly looking knife from his belt. He flipped it, testing it in his palm, before bracing it in reverse. The ever present red light of the monolith at the edge of the colony and the curious shimmer of the Prothean obelisk danced off its edges.

Shepard responded in kind with her own choice of weapon. A spark from her amp bathed her palms in electric blue biotics. Kaidan felt sweat drip down his neck. He was growing dizzy, but adrenaline had kept him from blacking out.

He pulled himself upright against the railing as Shepard leaped toward the turian, throwing a wild biotic punch toward his head. Her opponent dodged, and blocked her second strike with a sideways sweep of his arm. He spun the knife outward, slashing down as Shepard twisted away so that her shoulder was facing the turian.

She lashed out with a backhanded biotic blast, which flew over the aliens head as he ducked and lashed out with a kick aimed at her head. Shepard blocked it, and grinned as she attempted to flip him the same way he did to her.

The turian, however, anticipated this. Before she could grip his leg, he twisted off the ground so that she was actually supporting him. As soon as she realized her mistake, Shepard tried to toss him to the ground with a biotic surge, but not before one of his hind talons swept across her check, sending him tumbling to the side with a curse. The turian, meanwhile, landed on the ground feet first, knife in hand. Shepard jerked her face back to him- a long, bloody scar ran across her cheek, clipping her eye and slicing her eyebrow in two.

This time, the turian wasted no time pressing his advantage. He swung his knife low, forcing her to respond with a counter. She aimed for his head with a palm strike, but he shifted left. A haymaker from Shepard forced him to move left, behind her, and earned the commander a swift kick to the back of her leg, bringing her to her knees with a crack and a scream. Kaidan winced. She swung herself around with a fistful of biotics, but the turian was faster, moving behind her again and way from the blast. The knife flashed down, slicing off her hand and leaving a bloody trail down her forearm. The blade cut through armor and flesh alike, causing Shepard to let out another scream.

Kaidan's stomach churned as he realized she was getting desperate. Still kneeling on the ground, she let out a high kick backward with her good leg, thrusting a biotic foot toward the turians stomach.

Then time seemed to move in slow motion. When Shepard realized she had struck nothing but dead air, it was too late. The turian flipped as she rolled backward, desperately trying to throw him off-

When he buried the knife dead into her stomach with a thunk. As he pulled it out, a trail of blood followed, leaving a gaping hole in the commander's abdomen. She let a small 'oh," before collapsing to the ground.

The turian stood up, slowly. He didn't even seem to be breathing heavy as he slid the knife into its sheath without a second glance. Shepard lay on the ground, unmoving. Kaidan could see her face, all bloody and bruised. The sight of it almost made him throw up. Shepard…

Why Shepard? Why?

He tore his gaze away from the sad sight, and focused on the turian. From this angle, juxtaposed against the black and red sky, facing the ship, whatever it was, seemed, almost surreal. Just a lone, black figure staring into hell.

"Spirits," The turian murmured to himself. "It wasn't supposed to be this soon."

Kaidan coughed, breaking the alien out of his reverie. He looked over to Kaidan, and seemed genuinely surprised to see the marine still alive, and slumped against the side of the platform.

The turian cocked his head and drew his knife as he advanced toward him. Kaidan tried to tense up. He reached for his biotics instinctively, but any attempt he made was met with a wall of migraine. The turian knelt down and pressed the blade to his throat. Cold steel rubbed against his trachea as the turian spoke, his voice emanating the same threatening sub-harmonics as Nihlus.

"Who are you?" he asked.

Kaidan gulped. The edge of the knife rubbed against his skin, leaving a small scratch. "Kaidan, Kaidan Alenko," he managed to get out. "SSV Normandy, Alliance Navy."

"Saren Arterius, Spectre." Damn. "That was your commander." It was not a question.

"Yes. No. She… she attacked us, for the obelisk. She…she killed Nihlus."

"Nihlus?" the turian seemed alarmed. The pressure on his jugular was lifted as the knife slid back into it's owners sheath and Saren looked up, before sprinting over to his fellow turian.

He knelt down low by his comrade, and murmured something that Kaidan couldn't hear. He reached back behind his head and untied the shawl around his fringe, and used it to close Nihlus' open eyes. He pressed it against the dead turians temple and bowed his head in prayer.

Kaidan gulped again, trying to breathe in fresh air. While Saren attended to his friend, Kaidan tried to find the other friends. Ashley and Jacob were crumpled up on the ground not ten feet from Nihlus, both unconscious against the wall. James was sprawled out in a heap of armor closer to Shepard, facedown. And the commander-

The commander was moving. Kaidan blinked, and tried to cry out as words stuck in his throat. She propped herself up with effort- her good arm was shaking, but she managed to press a button on the omni-tool at her wrist. Her left arm she kept close to her chest, covering the hole in her abdomen with the stump that used to be her hand. She edged closer to Vega, silently. Auburn hair stuck to the sweat on her face, and her blue eyes were sparking with electricity. A slow, low hum echoed through the air as she reached for Vega's slumped body.

A huge, mechanical roar let loose from the bowels of the monolith. It shook the platform, and diverted Saren's attention away from Nihlus for just long enough for Kaidan to regain his voice.

"Saren! BEHIND YOU!" Kaidan managed to shout.

The turian dove to the side and grabbed the pistol out of Nihlus' limp hand. A wave of blue came crashing past him, blasting through the railing and sending Nihlus' body over the side. Saren grimaced and raised his gun.

Shepard was standing now. She struggled to support herself and a half-conscious Vega, but somehow she managed it. Her arm was wrapped around his neck, crushing his windpipe. She held him in front of her, hefting him like a human shield. He tried to break free, but he was too weak and her biotics were beginning to flare up. Saren moved closer, gun raised, but Shepard spoke out before he could take another step.

"You shoot, he dies. You move, He dies." Shepard gripped Vega's neck tighter, as if to prove her point. Kaidan tried to stand once he saw his friends face turn blue, but damned nausea and pain drove him back to his knees. Shepard backed up, closer to the edge.

Saren didn't respond immediately. Kaidan swallowed again. If he fired, his friend would die. The turian tightened his fingers around the trigger of the gun. Then he spoke.

"Human, you have no idea who you're dealing with."

"No, DON'T-!" Kaidan screamed as Saren pulled the trigger.

The bullet hit Vega in the shoulder. The marine shuddered with the impact, then fell limp. Saren fired off another round, picking up his advance to a sprint. Shepard let out a roar of frustration and sent another wave of biotics at the turian. Kaidan watched as the turian tried to avoid it, but he was running too fast. He was torn off his feet and hurled through the air-

And the obelisk glowed as he fell toward it. He was caught in a blinding haze of green, and slowed to a halt. His body grew rigid, and the ancient stone whirred and hummed. The pistol in his hand dropped as energy spiked through him, arcing his back and causing him to let out a scream. Then the stone released him with one last hum, dropping him unceremoniously to the ground.

Shepard, in the meantime, had taken her window of opportunity. Somehow, despite her wounds, she managed to heft Vega's massive, limp form up onto her shoulder and fling him over the edge of the railing, before vaulting over herself.

Before Kaidan could even comprehend why that was smart, he heard the subtle thrum of an engine as a mobile geth platform rose above the deck, carrying Shepard and an unconscious Vega on its back. Kaidan stared after them, wide eyed, as they flew off toward the giant ship. Shepard never looked back at him.

And it was quiet, except for Kaidan's ragged breathing. Ashley and Jacob were still unconscious on the ground, and Saren was only semiconscious, it looked like.

With a groan, he reached for his omni-tool, and pressed a button. Joker's panicked voice came in over his comm.

"ALENKO! Thank god," the pilot breathed. "Jesus Christ, man. What the fuck is going on down there? I tried to reach Shepard, but I got disconnected somehow. Are you guys okay?"

Kaidan took a deep breath. "Joker, we…we need evac. Now." His vision was growing cloudy again. The migraine was threatening to knock him out.

"Okay, okay. Where are you?"

"Center of the colony. And Joker?"

"Yeah, man?"

"Hurry."

"I'm on my way, don't worry, man. Just listen to the sound of my voice. Alenko? Alenko!"

But Kaidan was already out of it. He slumped against the rail, overcome by pain in his head. His eyes struggled to stay open.

The last thing he saw was Saren's unconscious body at the foot of that damn rock, before he, too, passed out.

* * *

**A/N: Not gonna lie, this was really fun to write.**

**On Kaidan- Finally spelled his name right, and he got a bit of a cool fight scene in this one. But if you're disappointed that he was still a bit of an observer, remember that he hasn't really become a major character at this point, even in the games. But trust me, he is definitely going to grow and come into himself later- big things, baby.**

**On Ashley/Jacob- they're unconscious almost the entire chapter because, well, they honestly didn't have anything to do in this chapter. Jacob, at this point, is basically an extra, but Ashley's absence should play into her part later.**

**James- this chapter is a bridge for him, honestly. But rest assured, he will return. Think Noveria.**

**And finally, Shepard-she was probably the hardest to write in this chapter. We've already established in the previous chapters that she is a genuinely good person. I want her fall from grace to be epic, which is why I wrote Akuze in the first place. ****So finding a reason for her to turn her back on her crew and humanity in general is a pretty big stretch, all things considered. When I write her, I'm always trying to convey that sense of inner turmoil in her- she's conflicted between her emotions and the indoctrination, but it's impossible to fight Sovereign. **

**All her inner thoughts kind of explode later, when she fights Saren for the first time, and finally has an outlet for her aggression If you're angry about that ("what happened to 'best damn biotic in the alliance navy'?"), consider this- Saren is a Spectre. Not only that, but the youngest person to ever become a Spectre in the history of the council. Seeing as he's pretty much of an age with the Illusive Man, that gives him at least a solid four decades' experience against people like Shepard. So, in that department, it'd really take some major scale-tipping to Shepard's side to give her a chance at beating him, as it were.**

**Please review, tell me what you think. Any advice is always welcome, so long as you're nice about it. The next chapter isn't as...intense, so I hope to finish it sooner.**


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